Tuesday 29 January 2013

Wednesday 30th Jan a walk around Scottsdale

We are heading back out on our tour tomorrow so a bit of a second rest day today. We went for a walk around Scottsdale. It has not been often that we have just gone for a walk so it was very enjoyable to take a stroll into the countryside then back down through the High Street.
We had a coffee at the Art Cafe and then had a very nice pasty just up the road . We are leaving tomorrow so we took a photo of Britts place but managed to get a leaf in front of Catherine so we will have to take another shot before we leave!

Monday 28 January 2013

Tuesday 29th Jan Rest Day

After 102kms and over 5000ft of climbing yesterday it was time for a rest our east coast tour now complete.
Woke up at 8.30 a good two hours later than has been the norm. Britt had found our mound of dirty clothes and washed them and had them on the line already . A cup of tea awaited me at the table and freshly picked strawberries awaited me also with a big tub of yogurt cooling in the fridge. Are we looked after or what?
Britt went off with her walking group and we caught up with emails, blogs and started planning the weekend ride when we take the long route back towards the airport for our return to Melbourne. An overcast and cool day today very much like an average summer day at home.

Monday 28th January St Helens to Scottsdale

Well what a marvellous cycling day. We managed to do 102 km today over some really big hills and climbed just over 5000ft . Not bad for fully loaded Bromptons and we would have been pleased with that on our normal touring bikes. We are back at Britts now. We set off from St Helens at 8.15 and got here at 6.30.
There was not many cafes or stops on the way which is the usual thing in Tas, but the ones that we found today were spot on the right place. At about 10.30 we arrived at The Willows Roadhouse Tearoom which was spot on for a second breakfast and a rest before the big test of the day, which was Weldborough pass. When we had sorted out our main climb there was a nice micro brewery pub where we had lunch. Then a good mostly downward ride to Derby who's best features I thought were the town hall and old bank (see photos) although an ice lolly from one of the many cafes was rather nice also.
We cycled on and got to Branxholm which we had cycled out to from Britts the week before when doing the rail trail ride.To be honest we had had enough by then, but the thought of 15 more miles would get us back with Britt and her lovely comfortable home comforts meant we kept going. We wanted to contact Britt but could not get a mobile signal and we phoned from a payphone but it rang out then just cut off not leaving an option to leave a message. We would just have to turn up on the doorstep and hope Britt was in.
The temperature had been kept in the low twenties by cloud cover, but this disappeared and we were heated by the early evening sun. We had bought a drink from the shop in Branxholm, but wished we had bought one for the final leg of the journey.
The journey was rolling from Branxholm and every down was not long enough and every up was really hard on the legs. So we arrived unannounced at Britt's or so we thought. Peter had driven past us and given us a toot and a wave earlier in the day. We had waved back although were not sure who we waved to. When he got home, he had phoned Britt to say that we were not far off and would probably be at Britts that evening. So we were expected unbeknown to us at the time.
A long cycling day with near perfect weather of no wind and comfortable temperatures. Really pleased with how the bikes are performing. We know from books, blogs and road signs that we did 102km but our mileometer shows only 57 miles. It was fitted for the trip but it looks like the calibration is out by about 8 percent . We need to have a look at our total mileage and take-in to consideration the miles lost when the battery died, plus this inaccuracy to see what miles we have done. If the only problem with the bikes is problems with the mileometer then I will be happy.
Rest day tomorrow, we can get this blog published, sort our washing and have a general sort out. We have spoken with Britt and will head out on Friday morning to head towards the airport, doing a mini tour north tasmania on the way, over four days. Britt is sorting out sightseeing on Wed and Thur, so we will now have a few days off our bikes except fir nipping into Scottsdale high street shops and back.

Sunday 27th Jan To Binalong Bay and back

We left our tent and most of our kit in the tent and headed along a peninsula to Binalong Bay.
We got some food and drink at the IGA as we went past and the clouds were looking black. Once we had got our shopping it was hard rain and I stopped to take a photo of the signpost to Binalong and had to shelter in the doorway of a shop to stop the camera getting wet. Right in my shot was a guy standing there and he then went to talk to Catherine. It turned out it was Peter who we were with on our first day when we went walking with the Dorset walkers.
After a chat with Peter we set off and it rained hard. Blue sky started to come on the horizon and by the time we got to Binalong we had been through a storm and then totally dried off again. The rest of the day was hot sunshine and great white beaches and blue skies with puffy white clouds. It was a beautiful area and we cycle on to bay of fires and tried to take all the dirt tracks that went of into the bush on their way to fantastic beach after fantastic beach. We made our way back to Binalong and went to the cafe there and got a table on prime spot to see a view of the bay. Everyone said this was a spot to see and we were not disappointed. We had a great day cycling with wonderful sea and beach views. In the evening we cooked some porterhouse steak using the camp gas BBQ. It was delicious. The camp site standards seem to be excellent with brilliant facilities always with well resourced camp kitchens and lots of room for unpowered tent sites. This was a real treat and helped us keep up our standards of comfort etc. Up early tomorrow to begin our climb from the coast back towards Scottsdale. Hope the wind is kind to us.

Friday 25 January 2013

Australia Day 26th Jan Scamander to St Helens

The winds are now coming from the South so on our backs at last and it made the going very easy. St Helens was an easy ride but we took a detour to the end of a peninsula . People were greeting each other with "Happy Australia day" and we saw a young girl with her dad in an Aussie flag dress. We camped up at about midday and then walked into town.
They had an event on which including sawing and chopping wood. I have never seen this before and I was amazed at the speed they could both saw and chop. They had tall telegraph pole size vertical logs and the competitors had to make chops into the pole and then place a board into it. They then climbed the log and cut the top off. I doubt I could have lifted the axe!
We are staying here two days and we will go tomorrow for a day trip without all our kit on the bike to Binabong which has really great white beaches we are told.

Friday 25th Jan Bicheno to Scamander

Last night the rains continued. We were in our tent and ready for sleep at 8 PM but the rain and wind beat down hard on the tent. I awoke hours later as the rain got really hard and Catherine said she had not yet slept and it must be at least 4 AM it was in actual fact 12.30.
We were up at 6 and had the shower block to ourselves and the camp kitchen had just two others in there. Yoghurt and fresh fruit and two pint mugs of tea and we were ready to ride at 8.15.
The wind once again was right in our faces and a thick mist and cloud hung heavily. It was a day of waterproofs off then water proofs on as shower after shower hit us but the background temperature was high so at the end of each shower we were able to dry off nicely.The Tasman Highway was a good distance from the sea and all we could see was scrub. We made two detours through the scrub to see some long beaches but the wind threw sand in our face and a quick look was enough.
Again the wind held us back and we were doing good to get to 5 miles per hour. On and on we went past scrub and scrub and more scrub with long gentle accents and decents. No cafe, no shop and sitting at the side of the road with the ants biting you did not seem an option. Not even a bus stop to get out of the wind and have a brew. After just over 20 miles and over four hours of cycling we came upon IronHouse Brewery. They had a rather upmarket cafe and we decided to treat ourselves. Big windows looking out over the coast which was crashing in with massive surfers waves. We were now well fed and watered and it was only 1 o'clock due to our early start. We had both admitted over lunch that there was a limit to how much scrub you wanted to look at. We need not have worried as the road north went right next to the beach now and the wind was building up massive massive waves. We watched some very able surfers mastering the waves, this was all about twice the scale to the stuff we had seen in Cornwall the year earlier. Unable to take photos as it was now raining hard and all the electrics were well tucked away.
So we had filled our tummy, got fantastic views of the coast at last, if only the rain would stop. A line of blue came over the horizon and half hour later the sky had gone from 100% thick cloud to 100% blue sky. The temperature shot up. It was a hot summer abroad again.
Scamander is a little sea side resort and we are now at the campsite. The kitchen area is a shelter with microwave, chairs and tables and two old settees looking out over the hot campsite. Lovely shade and great to have a really comfy seat to sit in and catch up on my blog.
About 40 miles today. It is Australia day tomorrow and it is like our august bank holiday weekend as they get Monday off but the kids go back to school after the summer holidays the next Monday. So it is their last chance for a family summer long weekend and everything will be busy accommodation wise. Seems quiet enough here at the moment however but it's early yet.

Thursday 24th Jan Swansea to Bicheno

My first memory of today was rain beating hard on the outside of the tent in the early morning. We could have folded the bikes and put them in the tent porch but we left them out assuming it would not rain. We even did some washing and left it airing on the bikes.
Had a great sleep last night though. The campsite was very packed and we were just a couple of feet away from a massive tent with boat and all the things you could think of. At half past eight I decided to rest as it could have been a late night with so many people around. Slept at 8.30 pm and woke up at 6 am and heard not a thing. I cannot believe how quiet the camp site was. Our neighbours are fishermen so perhaps they went fishing, who knows but the noise levels were fantastic.
Up at 6.30 and shower block to myself. The campsite has a fantastic kitchen area with fridge, microwave and kettle, sockets to charge up the ipad and table and chairs to sit on. Good cup of english breakfast tea, watermelon, banana and yogurt for breakfast today before we start to decamp. The kitchen has a tin roof and we can hear the rain, it gets more like home every day. All the field were yellow when we arrived but over night things have already started to turn green. Site cost 35 au$ about £24 which for our small tent was a lot but great facilities and right next to the beach. All I heard all night were the waves crashing in.
Less miles today as this is a really scenic area and worth a few side trips. Our destination is famous for it's cliff top walk Blow Hole and Penguins. Although keeping me up after 9pm to see a penguin walk up a beach may be a tall order.

Well we got here after a really hard day. We turned North East and into a 15 mph head wind which slowed us a lot. We were hitting about 4 to 5 mph and we did a climb from sea level to about 800 ft but had to peddle down the hill as the wind was so strong. Got up at 6.30 and were out for 8am but it took until 3pm before we got into Bicheno. Hardest thirty miles I have ever done on our bikes. We went along to the blow hole which with all the wind was working well and we walked along the coast and saw another Penguin in his nest.
Wet and windy today really Scottish weather and reminds us of our wet trip in the Outer Hebride and our time in Mull. A little damp but doing ok and camping again at a site with a good, if rather noisy kitchen.
We expected problems with coping with the heat but now it is the wet and wind that is the problem but at least we are well practiced. They had forest fires here just two weeks ago but things are now turning green again and the risk of fires quoted in their local paper was at the lowest level out of eight levels. I call this the Catherine and Tony effect, send us over here and it goes from non stop boiling hot to wet and windy in no time at all.
Not sure what the winds are going to do tomorrow. At the information centre it said 15mph against us (N.E) changing in the afternoon to 19mph on our backs (S.W). Hard to think of wind doing a 180 turn but hay, this is Tas and we will see.
Scenery has been great and at least now we are bonding with the bikes and really getting used to them.

Photo 1. Overnight rain means you can really see the tent footprint which is shaped like a big coffin.
Photos 2,3&4. On our afternoon Coastal walk in Bicheno.
Photo 5. The blow hole in full force.
Photo 6.Our halfway brew up, getting out of the wind at an information shelter.
Photo 7. The campsite where we started the day in Swansea

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Wednesday 23rd Jan Orford to Swansea

Today we hope to go forty miles up the coast to Swansea and a bit beyond if we get the chance. Gps data from other blogs suggest a good bit of accent, about twice yesterday's 2900 feet. Sue confirms that the route is hilly. The profile looks a little like a sawtooth so let's hope we get enough speed on the downs to get up the ups. We are now following the coast which is full of empty white sand beaches.
Sue drove us to the local beaches in the evening after a steak dinner. To walk the beach takes six hours each way and there was not one person on it as far as the eye could see. Coming home wallabies were dashing in front of the car. Their hopping run means they have a really bad breaking distance so collisions are frequent as we know from the road kill. Sue says that the car has often been dented and it is not a matter so much on how fast the car is travelling. She has been going along at ten miles an hour when a wallaby has come smashing into the side of the car. Dents are so frequent that if she gets one she leaves the dent and waits until she has a few then takes the car to the body shop as this is a more efficient way of doing things.
Really really should be camping tonight be doing well with finding wifi so far so who knows. Catherine is posting now. Loving every minute of it all, with no stress, even enjoying the hills. Walking up the hills with a full load is much better with the Bromptons rather than our traditional bikes as the handlebars are higher and it's easier on your arms and back. On my bike now after a cup of tea an breakfast at 8.00 a.m. and with a blue sky and wind free day expected. Just wonderful.

We did forty miles in the end and ended up camping in Swansea by the beach. Campsite is rather cramped but a nice little seaside town. The route did dip in and out of bays a little so there was quite a bit of up and down but all quite manageable. We didnt need to walk uphills today so we may be getting fitter or the hills less steep, not sure which yet. Catherine has found a free guide to cycling which covers our route and has accurate gradient profiles. It looks o.k for the next few days but when we turn in land to Derby we will hit a hill over 2000ft so we will need to plan that accent.
Today we did not get off and push which was the important thing. Riding on the Bromptons is starting to mature now and we have a better idea what we can do and how fast we can do it. I reckon the small wheels knock of about 20% so with no luggage we can average ten miles an hour. Add all our kit including camping and cooking gear however looses us about 3 miles per hour. So our average touring speed on the Bromptons is 7MPH. So we did 40 miles today and spent just under six hours in the saddle. It looks like 40 will be about tops with an average daily mileage of probably 35 Miles per day. Very modest but you can soon plan around it. The gearing is good but it is like having a triple chain ring and not being able to use your smallest chain ring. Altitude is always an important factor in cycletouring but even more so with our modest gears.If we get off and walk of course it does then bring our average speed right down. This all sounds hard work but the win has been the many ways we have ported the bikes from plane,train,ferry and car.
At the campsite now,a first for the holiday. Just used the trangia cooker for the first time!

Photo one. A shop that still has all it's Christmas window.
Photo two. Enjoying our rest stop.
Photo three. Nigel tops up his tan
Photo four. Fantastic beaches all the way
Photo five.Sue with Catherine yesterday evening taking in the local sites.
Photo six. Looking back towards Orford as we started the day

Monday 21 January 2013

Tuesday 22nd Jan Heading out

We intended to stay two days in Hobart and had John our warmshowers host booked for today. No disrespect to Hobart but we have just realised it is a big city and not really a cyclists dream. The locals have few ideas regarding what we may do for a day, other than visit museums, which would be hard if we are lugging our bikes and all our kit around.
It is 4 am in the morning and I have decided that we will give John a ring first thing and say that we will not be arriving tonight after all. I have been conversing with John for weeks and feel really bad. Talking to our hosts here and looking at the altitude diagrams for our route, tell me however that we face a severe challenge to do the route we plan on the bikes that we have within the time we have. We really want to start the real challenge and the only thing stopping us is fronting up to John, so logic dictates that I should just bite the bullet and be courteous enough to let him know the situation as soon as possible.
My good lady knows nothing of this and is snoring away beside me not know that I will wake her at about 6.30 and suggest that we head out. I know she feels the same as me. I guess the only problem with warm showers is that your plans can change as you go along.
So off early and we can pass a Coles store on the way and stock up with rice and stuff for cycle camping back up rations.
So the main reason I am doing this entry is to say that we are now going for the hard stuff, long days and camping and may be away from WIFI . So I can save a blog each day, but I am unsure if we can publish each day.
Looking at GPX files, on a 65 mile trip down our route a rider did over 7000ft of accent, two days running.Looking at the hills around us I can believe that but I am hoping his GPS overestimated . So that will mean allot of walking for us and our little bikes could be a bit outclassed.So hence we will need every hour we can otherwise we will never get back to Lauceston in time for our flight.
Hobart is yellow from heat and forest fires have hit national news and devastated local communities. It is our first day of cyclecamping tomorrow and the forecast is ....... Rain!!!! About 6 mm. The locals are jumping for joy. We always seem to have this effect on local weather!
So up early and out tomorrow and I will make the call to John. Yes I am nervous about the next few days as they will be the hardest of the whole trip which is why I am now keen not to hang around another day. The bikes are really untested on a long tour in hilly terrain, but I need to get out there now and see what happens. It is also why I am up at 4 AM unable to sleep and worrying! So if you are reading this in the UK you could well know what is happening tomorrow before Catherine does. I am not being male chauvinist however, as I know she was regretting the idea of messing about for another day here.
I will add further info on our day of 22nd Jan and republish this page with added info below, but this is the story at 4AM.With luck, that has got all this off my mind and I can get some sleep!

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We contacted John by text and he said "no worries" but I will contact him again when I can just to say sorry to mess him about. We are at Orford on the coast. Our mileometer battery has gone but I reckon just over 50 miles. The ride consisted of four hills. Hill one was on our journey to Richmond which was 15 miles away, and we managed the long up ok without dismounting and had coffee at the Bakery. We bumped into Graham and Helen from Richmond (the Aus one) who were having a coffee at there local cafe. They had a Cannondale tandem with a doggy cage trailer, which I intended to photograph but got chatting and forgot. John worked for Quantas and had a Brompton which he took with him when flying and he could then cycle in the countries he ended up in on his rest days. He liked it so much he has brought Helen one.So we had a good Brompton Techie talk.
Graham told us that there were three big hills ahead all going from about sea level to about 1000ft and all having funny names.Break your neck hill was one and " Bust a gall" was the other I forget the third. We found two signs but "Break your neck"we saw as we sped past on the descent, so we missed.We did dismount on all but only for short sections. We stopped at a road house just after hill two and had beans on toast for 6 dollars which equates to £4.
It was great to get some miles done and prove that the system can work and we are pleased with fifty miles if we can do 40 a day then it would easily do our trip on time. So feeling much more positive and feel that we are now really getting into the cycling. GPS suggests that we will have over double the climbing tomorrow,but having accelerated our departure all looks good.
We got to Orford and stopped in the shelter of the supermarket. The rains had come as expected and all the locals were really pleased. We had cycled through areas that had been burnt just two weeks ago and both sides of the road were black and smelled of burning.See the photo of the melted road marker below.
Now it comes to the part of the day that I find just remarkable. I was outside the IGA (Independant Grocers Association - Aus version of the co-op) looking no doubt wet and bedraggled waiting for Catherine who was buying stuff for our first Trangia meal of the holiday. A lady came up and said "are you camping in this rain?"and I said "yes"and asked where the village campsite was. You can't camp in the rain said the lady (I now know as Sue)"I have a spare room you could both use if you want it". I know the British thing would have been to say no, but I am not in Britain.So folks at home have a think,when did you last tour in the rain, and get an offer like this. What did I say about Aussies being really really open and welcoming, it is like another much better world. I really really like this place. So we are still not camping. What did I say about taking a photo every day sitting at a table with "good food and company" It should be the tag line for Aus! Say I,as I take another sip from the wine glass.
I am carting a big bag of camping stuff and Cooking equipment with me. 15 days in to the tour and the cooker and fuel remains unused and the tent has seen two back gardens, but has not been put up in a campsite yet.
Great to get on the road and get some miles done. Sue has transported us to her house overlooking a White sand beach. Of course if they had not been folding bikes then Sue could not have put us all in her car and brought us here so thumbs up to the Bromptons again. Self doubts fading fast!

Monday 21st Jan bus to Hobart

It was time to say our goodbye for now to Britt and get a bus to Launceston then on to Hobart right at the southern end of Tas. In fact we must be the most south that we have ever been as we are now on the same latitude as South Island in New Zealand.
Several hours on two buses but we are ready now to start the cycle camping along the east coast of Tas.
The bus got into Hobart and all our baggage came off and we got it all together as two bikes in no time at all. It was four o'clock in Hobart and very busy with traffic. We found the bike path however and went and had tea in the park. Our host today (David and Yvonne) lived at the top of a long steep hill and boy what a hill it was. We walked up most of it pushing the bikes. Our hosts were very welcoming and within minutes of arriving I was in their heated swimming pool. Bliss after a long day.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Sunday 20th Breakfast at Barnbougle-Lost Farm near Bridport

Today began with beautiful bright blue skies as far as the eye could see. We have been invited by Bev and Noel for breakfast at the golf club. Naturally we agreed as all the opportunities we have been offered here by the locals have been wonderful experiences. So this proved the point. This famous golf course (Barnbougle Lost Farm) is based on the sand dunes and so a short stroll after a fabulous classy Aussie fry up was a must. We collected some wonderful sea shells from this deserted beach. Just look at the photos. What about the cycling you might say. We we are having a day off the bikes today while we do a maintenance course with Britt and her bike. We are also having a full load washing day and then this evening we have been invited to a barbecue with Ken and Helen.
Ken and Helen live in a wonderful home that is over 100 years old and perched on top of a hill. The views were fantastic and we watched the sun set and the suns orange glow lit up the avenue of large trees in his garden that were planted when the house was built. Once again we were blown away by the hospitality we receive in Australia. I was tempted to do another shot of us sitting at a table of fantastic food with a drink in our hand and good company around us.The thing is that seems to be every second shot I take. We will have been here two weeks tomorrow and what a fortnight it has been, people over here are so open, kind and generous and we have had such good company from so many people. Thanks again folks!!
On the bus to Hobart today if all goes to plan and then the cycle tour continues up the east coast of Tas. Ready to restart the cycle tour now.